[daggers - part two]
[3rd]

Birds perched on branches of the apple trees sang a simple yet lovely ballad, as guests flooded in from the entrance. It was a beautiful morning, the sun hadn't risen yet, and a soft breeze flitted through the gardens.

She smiled as Alice, who had recently married Frank Longbottom, pinned back the last strands of her golden blonde hair, completing the half up, half down style, and clapped. "Thank you, Alice. You're really handy with this."

"Anything for Lily's maid of honour!" Alice gushed, smiling brightly. "You look absolutely wonderful."

She looked into the ornate mirror hanging on the wall of the bride's dressing room. A girl she didn't recognize stared back at her. She had on a beautiful sleeveless silk dress in the lightest blue colour that Lily had chosen, the skirt flowing effortlessly from past her ribs till past her knees, and transparent floaty material flowed out over the skirt of the dress. A pastel pink rose was attached to the top hem, and pearls decorated the dress. Her feet were adorned with light beige sandals, with pastel coloured flowers on the straps. She had on minimal makeup, but the silver eye shadow made her light blue eyes stand out and actually look alive, compared to the dull, lifeless ones she had had for a year. She looked like she was glowing.

She absent-mindedly touched the light pink rose in her hair, feeling the pearls braided into it. This was her. She felt like she could finally be free, like a bird released from a cage.

But she felt as if something, something was missing.

Her smile faded from her lips. "It's so- its fantastic, thank you so much, but- but I just... I just don't feel like myself," she said softly.

Alice smiled sympathetically. "I know you were close with Sirius' brother... I'm sorry for your loss. He was your best friend?"

She tried to stop the wave of emotion overcoming her, determinedly trying to not cry. The memories she had pushed away for a year started coming back to her, and she felt the heartbreak, fresh and painful even over the time they had not seen each other. "So much more," she said quietly.

"He wouldn't want to see you upset."

"What?" she asked, caught off guard.

"He would never have wanted you to be upset," Alice repeated. "This is the you I see, you're selflessly loyal and you don't only have pretty looks- no-" she waved her protests off, "listen to me, you're prettier than you think, and you're beautiful on the inside. This is you, and you're only taking flight. I know you had a traumatizing past, but you're free now, and your potential, your power, the rein is in front of you. All you have to do... is take it."

She stared at Alice. Her interaction with the Gryffindor had been limited, although they had spent quite a bit of time together as they were both good friends to Lily. They seemed like polar opposites, Alice cheery and enthusiastic and outgoing while she was more quiet and calculating, a mysterious aura around her, yet both girls were known for their kindness, their loyalty, and she knew both would do anything to keep their loved ones safe. Now she thought about it she regretted not interacting with Alice more. She would've been a great friend.

She hugged her. Caught by surprise, Alice looked surprised for a moment, then hugged her back.

And for the first time since he had left her, she felt like she truly had a future in front of her. She felt free.

***************************

"You're happy today," Sirius noted as he slid into the spare seat next to him. "What happened?"

She shrugged, eyes on Lily and James, who were having their first dance as a married couple. "My brother's marrying my best friend. What's wrong with being happy?"

"You're never this happy," he stated. "Your eyes haven't lit up like that since... fifth year. Or sixth year. And throughout last year your eyes looked lifeless."

She sighed. She had become quite good friends with Sirius over the past year, and he was able to read her like Lily did, even if his brother was better than him at that. Sirius could understand her to a certain extent, definitely not how Regulus could, but she knew it was about the best she could ever have. There was some confusion once when someone tried matchmaking and tried to get them to go out, but her heart still belonged to his brother, no matter the distance and time. She still fell in love with him every single day all over again, and that day had resulted in a lot of crying and heartbreak and panic attacks as Lily, James and Sirius tried to console her to no success.

"I feel... different," she confessed. "Free. Free from the past."

"I don't get it," Sirius said after a while, confused. "Are you talking about your childhood, or my brother?"

"I could never forget your brother," she sighed. "I loved him- love him- with all my heart, I can't live without him. I meant that I feel as if I didn't know how to fly away from the cage because I've been in there for so long, but now I finally have."

Sirius grinned. "Took you long enough. I bet your power could rival Dumbledore's if you wanted."

She laughed. She hadn't laughed in years, and was almost surprised as it rang out, clear and slightly melodic, and was surprised at how nice it felt to laugh. Around her, those who knew her were looking at her, shocked that she actually laughed. "No way," she shot back playfully," I'm not that good."

Sirius held out his arm. "You want to dance? I know you can dance, I saw you with my brother at the Yule Ball in my fifth year. You dance pretty well."

She shook her head. "Maybe later. I want to have a walk outside first, clear my head."

Sirius nodded, and let her exit the garden. The village near the garden was next to the sea, and it looked beautiful, with the wild waves, beautiful in its wildness, against the beautiful sky, as the sun sank just below the horizon. She had timed the wedding perfectly, the sun starting to set the exact moment they kissed, creating the most beautiful picture, with all the beauty of the vibrant pinks and reds and violets and yellows against the sky of the palest blue.

She sighed, watching the clouds flit across the sky. There was a hollow feeling inside her, and even though she was happier than she had been for ages, she knew that she still missed him, and she would give anything to be by his side again.

And it was then that she saw the shadow. The dim figure of a person, and she watched in horror as they plunged into the water, fighting against the wild and uncontrollable waves. There was no way, absolutely no way they could survive those ruthless waves that night.

She couldn't react fast enough, and whipped her wand out just in time to see the figure crash into one of the rocks. Horrified, she cried out spells, apparating the unconscious figure back to the shore, and trying to heal him. She turned the figure over

And she gasped in shock and horror, as she gazed at the familiar face, and into those unmistakable silvery grey eyes, that haunted her dreams.
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